Around the NHL 2024-2025

[Linkens Mastery]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1858948876646203597

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Army….you know what to do…

Would it be poor form to fire Bannister before tonight's game?

 

[BlueDream]

Glad Kapanen is out of this organization, just like Hayes and Vrana. Those fliers didn’t work out and I didn’t like them as players.

Am I allowed to say that or is that too harsh?

 

[Majorityof1]

Glad Kapanen is out of this organization, just like Hayes and Vrana. Those fliers didn’t work out and I didn’t like them as players.

Am I allowed to say that or is that too harsh?

As I stated before, say whatever you want. You were the one telling people they can't say things.

But losing options for nothing is never good. If we get injurues again, he is no longer an option. If we had better options, we didn't need to lose him to use them. He would have been out of the organization after this season anyway, and that is when we would have the opportunity to replace hin as depth. We lost a depth option. While not the end of the world, it is not a positive.

 

[Majorityof1]

Would it be poor form to fire Bannister before tonight's game?

Do we want to replace Bannister with a guy who led a much less flawed roster without injuries to basically the same record as we are at? We give Monty a ton of credit as an assistant coach, but he has not motivated his team at all this year. Bannister has shown our team, while a flawed roster, does have some resiliency.

I doubt we are firing another coach so soon. And after Monty's performance in Boston, I'm not sure we should.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Just noticed something about Jake Walman.

When the Blues drafted him, he was listed at 6'0", 170lbs.
Now he is 6'1", 218lbs.

That seems like a big jump.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Do we want to replace Bannister with a guy who led a much less flawed roster without injuries to basically the same record as we are at? We give Monty a ton of credit as an assistant coach, but he has not motivated his team at all this year. Bannister has shown our team, while a flawed roster, does have some resiliency.

I doubt we are firing another coach so soon. And after Monty's performance in Boston, I'm not sure we should.

Yes, I would replace Bannister with Jim Montgomery in a second despite the small sample size that is the Bruins last 10 games because I think Jim Montgomery is a much better head coach. I would imagine more than ninety-nine percent of all coach firings come after a poor stretch of play. The other was Robbie Ftorek.

I don't think the Blues will fire Bannister this soon though and just to be clear, I don't think they should. That was a joke.

 

[SirPaste]

Do we want to replace Bannister with a guy who led a much less flawed roster without injuries to basically the same record as we are at? We give Monty a ton of credit as an assistant coach, but he has not motivated his team at all this year. Bannister has shown our team, while a flawed roster, does have some resiliency.

I doubt we are firing another coach so soon. And after Monty's performance in Boston, I'm not sure we should.

He also led the Bruins to the best regular season ever by a team just a couple years ago, he did very well in Dallas before his personal problems cost him his job there. He is familiar with our team, management, and fit in well here in St Louis. I would be shocked if there was any management team who would prefer Bannister over Monty at this point of their coaching careers.

Edit: I should add, I don't think we will hire him as I mentioned in an earlier post, the timing unfortunately didn't line up but I would bet if he was fired in the offseason we would have gone hard after Monty before signing Bannister to his deal.

 

[TheOrganist]

He also led the Bruins to the best regular season ever by a team just a couple years ago, he did very well in Dallas before his personal problems cost him his job there. He is familiar with our team, management, and fit in well here in St Louis. I would be shocked if there was any management team who would prefer Bannister over Monty at this point of their coaching careers.

Edit: I should add, I don't think we will hire him as I mentioned in an earlier post, the timing unfortunately didn't line up but I would bet if he was fired in the offseason we would have gone hard after Monty before signing Bannister to his deal.

He led Dubuque to two USHL championships (led by a young John Gaudreau), Denver to an NCAA championship, etc. He's been a successful coach at every level of hockey. It's pretty much the definition of no-brainer hire if he leaves Boston and the interest in mutual.

 

[mk80]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1858948876646203597

So we offer sheet Broberg, Holloway get both and they take Kapanen off our hands for free!? Incredible!

Do we want to replace Bannister with a guy who led a much less flawed roster without injuries to basically the same record as we are at? We give Monty a ton of credit as an assistant coach, but he has not motivated his team at all this year. Bannister has shown our team, while a flawed roster, does have some resiliency.

I doubt we are firing another coach so soon. And after Monty's performance in Boston, I'm not sure we should.

While his time with the Bruins hasn’t been anything to write home about. I do think the veterans in that Bruins locker room shoulder a lot of the blame for their troubles. We also can’t overlook the success he was having with Dallas in his time there, and he did do very well in his role here.

Overall he’s a definite upgrade over Bannister at this point in their careers. I don’t think we would make a coaching change though.

 

[MissouriMook]

He also led the Bruins to the best regular season ever by a team just a couple years ago, he did very well in Dallas before his personal problems cost him his job there. He is familiar with our team, management, and fit in well here in St Louis. I would be shocked if there was any management team who would prefer Bannister over Monty at this point of their coaching careers.

Edit: I should add, I don't think we will hire him as I mentioned in an earlier post, the timing unfortunately didn't line up but I would bet if he was fired in the offseason we would have gone hard after Monty before signing Bannister to his deal.

I would expect that we would kick the tires if Monty is still a free agent after the end of the season. Bannister has always felt like a placeholder, but having Julien on the staff as an assistant changes the calculus a bit.

 

[Reality Czech]

I wouldn't be surprised if Monty takes his time choosing a new job. He called out Pasta, Marchand and I just read he called out Swayman recently. Maybe he could use a little time off to spend with family and recharge his batteries as it sounds like it's been a stressful few months over there in Boston.

So it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he waits until the off-season to take another coaching job, which might be a good thing for Blues fans who hope he is hired here.

 

[SirPaste]

So we offer sheet Broberg, Holloway get both and they take Kapanen off our hands for free!? Incredible!


While his time with the Bruins hasn’t been anything to write home about. I do think the veterans in that Bruins locker room shoulder a lot of the blame for their troubles. We also can’t overlook the success he was having with Dallas in his time there, and he did do very well in his role here.

Overall he’s a definite upgrade over Bannister at this point in their careers. I don’t think we would make a coaching change though.

Obviously this season hasn't gone well for them but I would argue that breaking the all time regular season wins/points record is something to write home about.

 

[mk80]

Obviously this season hasn't gone well for them but I would argue that breaking the all time regular season wins/points record is something to write home about.

Good point. I honestly was only thinking this season and the playoff loss after that historic season. Setting that record totally escaped my mind

But it speaks to his overall success as coach in the NHL and throughout his career as a whole.

 

[joe galiba]

So the deal was Broberg and Holloway for 63 games of Kapanen?
seems like a win-win for both franchises

 

[GoBluz24]

Montgomery may be fired by Thanksgiving the way things are going in Boston.

Toot, Toot.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I'd drive Bannister to the airport myself if we could get Montgomery. The Bruins season was screwed the second they didn't let their franchise goalie get a pre-season in. Pasta and Marchand look cooked. The D has been atrocious. These things happen from time to time, but you gotta think that the whole room is pissed that it took so long for Swayman to get under contract.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Obviously this season hasn't gone well for them but I would argue that breaking the all time regular season wins/points record is something to write home about.

They’ve got a .715 points percentage with him behind the bench. Even with a slow start this firing makes almost no sense to me. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes.

But if not and he’s available in the offseason we should be all over him.

 

[Brian39]

As I stated before, say whatever you want. You were the one telling people they can't say things.

But losing options for nothing is never good. If we get injurues again, he is no longer an option. If we had better options, we didn't need to lose him to use them. He would have been out if the organization after this season Anyway, and that is when we would have the opportunity to replace hin as depth. We lost a depth option, and while not the end of the world is not a positive.

I mostly agree and like you I was perfectly content with Kap having a job here as a depth option.

That said, I'm not mad about ownership not spending the $800k(ish) of remaining salary for him to play in the AHL and be a depth option. That isn't a huge positive for the organization, but it should be weighed against the negative of not having him available as a call up down the line.

This year is going to be a financial loss for the Blues. Thomas, Kyrou, Binner, Schenn, Buch, Krug, and Parayko all make more real dollars than cap dollars. All told, NHL payroll is above $95M this season. Add $1M-$2M more if Suter hits bonuses. That number includes Krug, but I'm not sure how much insurance is covering on his deal. I think it is a safe bet that the NHL payroll will be north of $90M. Attendance is not great and likely will continue that way. We're not in danger of relocating or anything like that, but trimming an NHL salary from the budget if he's not on the NHL team in a year like this is noticeable.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Monty out confirmed - top story on NHL.com

 

[Brian39]

They’ve got a .715 points percentage with him behind the bench. Even with a slow start this firing makes almost no sense to me. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes.

But if not and he’s available in the offseason we should be all over him.

Agree or not, the reasoning probably isn't too crazy.

They are a team with Cup aspirations, yet they find themselves 8-9-3 with the 2nd worst goal differential in the league. The results in the last 3 games have been very ugly and the eye test says that the players have quit on the coach. That pretty often gets a coach fired in the NHL.

Barring behind the scenes stuff, I'd have given him more time to right the ship based on his past 2 seasons. But Boston isn't exactly patient with coaches and the 'bad' this season is enough that a firing makes sense without an assumption that there is behind the scenes stuff.

 

[Majorityof1]

They’ve got a .715 points percentage with him behind the bench. Even with a slow start this firing makes almost no sense to me. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes.

But if not and he’s available in the offseason we should be all over him.

The something going on behind the scenes would be my concern. The Bruins know his record, and they (rumored) want to move on anyway. We know he's had personal problems before. He has had a couple incidents this season (screaming at marchand) that I think we're blown out of proportion, but maybe were bigger than I think. He might not be handling the pressure well. He also has early playoff exits after those great regular seasons. Bruins have more info than we do, and if they let him go, they decided the bad outweighed the good.

I'm not saying he would be a bad coach here or we shouldn't consider him. I'm just trying to look at it from more angles. People have wanted Bannister gone from the second he took the job. But I think we are better off than we should be given roster and injuries. I don't see the need to drive him out of town.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

 

[stl76]

Not sure if the timing will line up right for Monty to return to StL. Somewhat related. David Carle is still a very interesting option in the future.

Take this for what it’s worth, but rumor has it Monty had a positive experience in StL and that this info was relayed to Carle.

 

[Reality Czech]

They’ve got a .715 points percentage with him behind the bench. Even with a slow start this firing makes almost no sense to me. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes.

But if not and he’s available in the offseason we should be all over him.

I think it's pretty much a lock that something was going on behind the scenes. When's the last time an NHL coach has publicly called out his top two forwards and starting goalie within a couple of weeks?

I was shocked by how bad Boston looked the other day. Their roster has flaws but that was an embarrassing effort to get outplayed by this weakened Blues team at home. Wouldn't surprise me if he had lost the room and then you've gotta ask how that can happen so suddenly after the success they had recently.